Innocent Aims
by Power Stranger
Summary: Gary had only ever concentrated on further improving his talents. Then he met Ash, and everything started to seem meaningless. Ash's true love was still for pokemon and battling, but Gary decided that he could work with that. AU, palletshipping, Gary/Ash
1. I, Prologue: Butterfly

_Author's Note #1: This is a short prologue, think of it as a teaser. The rest of my chapters will be longer. Chapter 1 skips to way before events referenced here._

_Author's Note #2: I sort of mix dub and original names here... In that Ash and Gary's real names are their Japanese ones, and the dub names are nicknames that they go by. I thought that was was canon, then I remembered that's in Digimon, not Pokemon. I kept it because this is an AU already anyway and it's a little bit important later on! Everyone other than Ash and Gary will just go by their dub names though, including all Pokemon._

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* * *

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**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Prologue: Butterfly_

* * *

I admit it.

I wanted to own him. Possess him. Satoshi... When I saw him at first, I admired him as a free floating specimen. I thought he was gorgeous, and was attracted to him the same way a child might be attracted to a butterfly. I wanted that butterfly. I wanted to sweep him ever so gently into my net, and then admire him. I'd keep him away from those free skies for my own pleasures as long as I pleased.

But Satoshi is not a butterfly, which though beautiful, is not self-aware and lower than even the lowest of the pokemon. And me, well, I'm not a child. My intentions weren't nearly as innocent as the small child's would be as they chased the beautiful colors of an insect's wings. Then again, they were as thoughtless as the child who ripped those wings off upon capture.

I'm sorry, Satoshi. I didn't know enough about my own desires to realize that they weren't what I really wanted. Forgive me, Satoshi!

I'm certain now.

I'm certain I want to be forgiven. It's all I desire with every fiber of my being. But my desires are what have caused all of this suffering in the first place. I guess I don't deserve what I want, not now, and not ever. So then I guess I should say good-bye to you, Satoshi.

It's been fun though.

* * *


	2. I, Chapter 1: Flying By

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 1: Flying By_

* * *

I was sitting out on the private section of the patio at the local restaurant. It was a good day with nice weather, sunshine with only a few scattered white clouds for effect. The perfect breeze blew by, making it into the perfect day to spend outside. That's why even though I'd long since finished my lunch, I'd chosen to stay there. The hotel I'd been staying at had no private outside section, and the day was just so nice. Staying here suited me just fine. I could relax and plan my next gym battle. Alone, with no disturbances from any fans or family.

Right now, the emphasis was on relaxing. I sat back in my chair, ignoring the notes and other paperwork spread out before me on this gym leader. Similarly to me, my pokemon were pretty relaxed. My eevee and arcanine were both curled up by their empty food bowls, napping. They could rest. I was pretty sure I could beat any of his bug types anyway... Even with the best trainer, there's only so much those little bugs can go, huh? Especially against a raging fire type like my arcanine.

I sighed, thinking of my last defeat. It hadn't been a big deal, just some random trainer. It had left my fans wandering away speechless, and me... I wasn't really sure what to feel right then. I'd thought then of how my grandfather might be disappointed, even lecture me. But in actuality, the closest my grandfather had ever come to lecturing me was to when I began this journey. And even then he'd only that I still had a lot to learn, and how much I could learn even in defeat. He wouldn't lecture me at all, he'd just hope I'd have learned a lesson myself from it. Grandpa's the type to leave both human and pokemon to their own free choices, even if they were wallowing in their own mistakes.

So only I could teach myself that I needed to study more, to do anything possible to avoid another humiliation like that, so at least I couldn't obsess that my defeat was from my own laziness. "Yeah, sure," I said to myself as I picked up the notes painstakingly collected by my various informants.

"Excuse me sir, can I get you anything else?" the waitress asked.

"Of course," I said. The servers knew they could count on a pretty big tip on top of the food I'd ordered, not to mention that this particular waitress was a fan of mine. I gave a wink as I ordered, "Make it a lemonade this time."

The girl smiled and dried to hide her gleeful giggle with her notepad before she walked away with my order. My eevee picked up her head and yawned, but I was fully alert and in study mode. I became absorbed in it like I usually did, so much that I barely noticed as the waitress came back until I heard the clink of ice against glass as she places the cup on the table.

"Thanks," I said. Even the slight smile I gave her seemed to have an effect. I get that a lot. It's too bad I'm not interested. I'm always nearly surrounded by female admirers who'd gladly become something more than just a cheerleader to me, but I'm just not interested. I've never been interested in anyone at all, not until-

I raised my glass to my lips, absent-mindedly staring across the way at the Pokemon Center. That's the first time I saw him. Well, heard him before anything. "Wait up, Pikachu!" he called as he ran down the walkway.

I put down the glass slowly and just stared. He was... Well, I wasn't sure exactly what he was right then. It wasn't a love at first sight moment. But there was a definite kind of attraction at first sight. The kid was obviously a pokemon trainer, just like me. It wasn't only the pikachu he'd finally caught up with who hopped happily on his shoulder that told me this. Other than the yellow pokemon companion, there was also his belt, which he'd detached from his waist and now carelessly swung in his hands, five separate pokeballs attached.

I stared at the easy-going trainer as he laughed loudly and ran toward the Pokemon Center. I tried to convince myself that my interest in him was all for the reasons I was usually interested in trainers... Perhaps a good practice battle. But my eyes and mind drifted from evaluating his obviously healthy, perhaps powerful pikachu to the trainer himself, who seemed dirty and scuffed up, possibly from a few days camping along the road, maybe, but still quite healthy, energetic, and well taken care of himself. No, no, I told myself, and looked back at the pikachu. The healthy coat showed a good diet and... Its trainers hair was dark and beautiful, and I felt like running my fingers through it as I held him close and-

The door of the center slammed shut, and he was out of my sight, and the fantasy was momentary shaken from my consciousness. I just shrugged. It didn't matter. He was just some trainer. And like all trainers, he was good for building up my experience. Didn't look like more than I could handle, but at the same time didn't seem like a pushover, either. I'd battle him, I decided.

I gathered up my materials and called for the check. I brought out my pokeball, and began to raise it, but then put it down, and then put it away again. It was absolutely ridiculous to be letting pokemon run around town uncontained, but... Well, maybe it would allow him to notice me as easily as I'd noticed him. And it wasn't as if any of my well-trained pokemon would run around on their own. My eevee seemed confused as I put her Pokeball away. "Sorry pal, you're gonna be walking this time."

"Eevee!" my pokemon said happily, and arcanine also seemed kind of pleased.

I paid the bill and went across the street. People did seem to stare at me for the pokemon walking freely at my side. I blushed a little from all the stares, but then sighed and played it cool. Didn't look that strange when I walked in the center and at least half of the freeloading kids there had their pokemon out.

I took off my sunglasses as my eyes adjusted to the light and looked around. Some of the kids looked at me curiously. I guess they could tell from my aura that I wasn't the average customer, someone above their levels. But I didn't really care much for their reactions, where was-

"AHHHH!" someone shrieked. I glanced toward where the sound came from, and suddenly the source was right in my face.

It was him. The guy I'd been admiring, well, scouting, from the patio. Right up close, staring into my eyes. Any closer and we'd be kissing, really. This thought went through my mind at the time, but I tried to maintain composure. "Hey," I said, sighed and looking to the side to try and seem calm. But then he moved even closer. Could it be that he really wanted to....? Before I could finish that thought I fell backward, now sitting on the ground. Great, way to embarrass myself. It wasn't even that I'd gotten weak-kneed or anything, just that the kid had gotten even closer, and trying to regain an appropriate distance I'd tripped.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" he said, and before I could say anything, let along object, he reached down and helped me to my feet again. "Yeah, you see, it's just I was so excited to see you."

Oh. OH. It was one of my many substitutes for friends, yet another fan. That was good. I'd have an "in" with him then. He'd automatically be prone to liking me, so I had nothing to worry about. I'd almost been... I hated to admit it, even to myself, but yeah, I'd almost been nervous.

"I've been following all of your stories." He took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and shoved it in my face. I barely recognized a black and white photo of me before he took it away. "You've been so successful! Just like everyone expected of you!"

I grinned naturally and got ready to make with the modesty. Of course it's something expected of me, my successes are only natural, I'd say. I'd keep trying hard and keep succeeding, and thanks for his support. Then that would be out of the way and we could get onto other things, like maybe me finding out a little more about him. But just as I opened my mouth he kept talking.

"You haven't disappointed me, Gary."

I closed my mouth again, and my happy expression faltered. If he was calling me by that name, then it was possible that things weren't as I'd thought. It was very possible that he-

"Remember me from back in Pallet Town?" he asked.

Remember him? This was the first time I'd seen him. I was sure I'd remember him if I'd actually seen him before. "No. Not at all, really. Should I?"

My tone had been deadpan, detached. That wasn't the way I'd wanted to sound. Looking back at him, I saw his expression had gone from a friendly enthusiasm to cross. Angry, really. Yeah, it was the first thing I'd said to him and I'd pissed him off already. That's how it usually goes for me. But it had been the truth. If we'd actually met, he hadn't done anything for me to remember, and that wasn't my fault, so it wasn't my fault that he was angry, right? Still didn't change the fact that he was mad at me. I thought about apologizing, but there was really nothing to apologize for, so instead I just stepped past him to let him cool down by himself.

"Don't just ignore me, Gary!"

I turned around. It hadn't been my intention to ignore him. "Sorry... Did you have something you wanted to say to me? Want an autograph, maybe?" Of course I wanted to spend a little more time with him than just another fan who wanted an autograph session, but this was a possible way I could help him forget about his anger.

"Autograph?" he practically spat at me with disgust. Of course, he wasn't just another fan, he was someone that claimed to know me from before. Maybe he already had my autograph, I considered. No, he let me know exactly what he'd been thinking. "As another talented trainer from Pallet Town, you're worthy enough to be my rival."

"Rival?" I repeated curiously.

"Yeah," he said, but seemed a little unsure. "Yeah!" he repeated, shouting loudly this time.

"I don't know you-" I began.

"You do know me!"

I raised a finger to his lips to quiet him. "Somehow it turns out that I don't know you, and not even counting natural talent, you're way too young to even think you're on the same level as me! You must be at least five years younger."

"Two," he said.

"So, I'll trust that you're right and only two years younger than me. But you're still about ten years behind me."

"No way!"

"But it's true. Growing up, I practically lived in grandpa's lab. I even unofficially got my first pokemon a few years before the legal age."

"That's kind of cheating."

"Come on, you'll meet trainers who have been at it since before either of us were born. Is that cheating?"

"No, but-"

"And even before then, I've be observing and studying them all on my own. You probably never even touched one until grandpa gave you your first, isn't that right?" It was usually the case that little kids and pokemon weren't trusted around each other in Pallet Town, after all. Most of the kids my grandpa helped send out on a journey were fans of pokemon battling from TV.

"That's enough!" he declared. "I might not have every advantage that you did, Gary, but I've gotten ahead my own way. And check this out." He opened his jacket, revealing a collection of four badges.

"Four badges, half the amount of a qualified Pokemon League participant." He scowled. Again I'd pissed him off without even trying. I'd only been pointing out the truth.

"You've always been like that, Gary. Well, that's enough talk! I challenge you to a pokemon battle! The outcome will show everyone who's better."

Ug. A battle. Show who's better? Oh, so it's now before a painful truth for this kid that I'm the superior trainer. It's not that I don't have my pokemon battle unknown trainers, but I do avoid outright slaughters. It's not fair for the trainer or the pokemon. But now this kid was insisting on one, despite his limited experience that I now knew about.

It just wasn't fair. Was it too much to ask for a small bit of my existence that didn't revolve around pokemon? Well, maybe I shouldn't have been thinking that while walking into a center flaunting two of my pokemon in plain sight, but... Hey, I just wanted to talk to him like a normal human being. Get to know who he is, even though according to him I already knew. A little refresher, then. Maybe with the two of us going on something like a date. It could include conversation about our mutual occupation and goals, but would mostly just be all about him. But instead-

"Are you scared?" he shouted.

"Of course not. I was just thinking that you might want to reconsider."

"No way. So does that mean that you accept?"

"If you insist upon this happening, I'll accept," I said. I had thought of him as a challenge to begin with, I told myself. What was I thinking, daydreaming about something else, and even being disappointed when it didn't happen? It's not like I'd know where to even begin if I got him into that kind of situation, anyway. A battle was the best I could hope for. Maybe there was even a way to make this fair, I thought.

"Alright!" he shouted. He finally smiled again, and so did I. If this was what it took to get his attention, I'd play along. I got out my cellphone. "What're you doing?" he asked me.

"I'm renting out a stadium," I said.

"A stadium?!"

I briefly looked up from the digital listings of nearby stadiums and nodded. "Right," I said.

"It's expensive, isn't it," he said. This time his voice seemed kind of small.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll cover the whole bill. I wouldn't expect someone of your status to chip in."

Sadly, a scowl replaced his smile again. "We could just battle in back in the forest or something," he said.

"Na. Come on kid, we're already in town, let's just go to a stadium. If we're going to battle, we might as well do it right, 'kay?"

He grinned again, a new kind of fire lighting up his eyes. "Right! This'll be great!" he said, and ran away from me as I was finishing making the reservation.

"Hey! Pikachu!" I heard him calling.

"Pika!" The pikachu ended up knocking over at least one piece of Nurse Joy's equipment as it ran out of the back of the center and into its master's arms.

"There you are! We're going to take on Gary, that'll show how strong we've become. He's even going to rent a stadium, that's awesome, isn't it?"

"Pika, pikapi."

"I know it's something new, but we'll just do our best, okay?"

I put away my cellphone as I observed the scene between pokemon and trainer. He was sure enthusiastic when it came to his pokemon, I thought with a sigh. I'd like for him to look into my eyes during a conversation like that. I mentally replaced the pikachu with myself, me pressed against his chest in an embrace. We'd be just about to-

I shook my head to try and remove the imagery. That was the first time I'd let myself complete a really weird daydream about him. Was that the reason I was really interested in this guy? Was that kind of thing something that I really wanted from anyone, let alone from this over-enthusiastic trainer?

I didn't have time to really ponder over it, because at that moment Nurse Joy began shouting at him. "Your pikachu isn't quite ready yet!"

"It's okay, Nurse Joy! Pikachu and I'll be back in just a little while."

"I'm afraid that's not what I'm concerned about. You put your pikachu in my care, and now I-"

"Sorry, Nurse Joy! When a battle calls, we've gotta be ready!" he said and then quickly ran over to me. "And you're ready, right?" He grabbed onto my arm. "Let's go!" He dragged me out the door and then dragged me even further down the street. "Which way's this stadium, anyway?"

"Other way," I said, and he quickly turned around.

We looked like escapees from the zoo with his pikachu riding on his shoulder and my two pokemon trailing behind. But I felt much more relaxed than when I tried it alone. Something about this kid allowed for breaking of these unwritten rules. He was a free, untamed spirit, and I it was almost like I became that way vicariously by being near him. I liked it. That feeling, as well as the feeling of being so close to him as he pulled me around town, only occasionally bothering to ask me for further direction. Being this close and this personal with him, I realized that this situation could possibly work out well for me after all. I considered that given this opportunity, it'd be good for not only my pokemon training, but my other desires as well.


	3. I, Chapter 2: Battle in a Box

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 2: Battle in a Box_

* * *

He let go of my arm and stopped dragging me around as we arrived at the rental stadium. I looked at him a moment forlornly, and but then just casually returned my two pokemon to their pokeballs. Then I just crossed my arms and observed him as he stared, seemingly in awe, at the stadium. His pikachu got off of his shoulder to sniff around, and he didn't even seem to notice. I guessed that he really hadn't really been to one before. "Heh," I said to myself. Him seeming so impressed at such a common site amused me.

Then he tilted his head, like a pokemon himself, pausing to think. "It's smaller than I thought it would be," he finally said.

Oh, so that had been what he'd meant. "Well, what do you expect?" I said. "It's not Indigo Stadium, it's just a little arena for legal battling within city limits.

"You can't legally battle just anywhere in the city?" he asked.

"Ug," I said to myself and put a hand on my forehead. "You don't even know that?"

"No..." He did look a little guilty while saying this, but I still smirked at how oblivious he was to everything.

"You can only battle in specially prepared arenas in most big cities. There's just too much that can be damaged out in the open. You have to go places like these stadiums or licensed gyms. Some people even have their own privately approved arena. But neither the construction nor the licenses come cheap, you know."

He paused, furrowing his brow. What was there to think about so much in what I'd just said, I wondered? He finally spoke. "So, most cities? But I think I've battled outside in nearly every city I've been to. How d'you know which you can battle outside in?"

"Short of getting in trouble with the law, try reading?" I suggested. "You know, a book on travel? Maybe a cellphone, pokedex, or poketch ap? About a million different ways to get information if you want it, kid." I turned and looked at him with a grin. But it seemed like he was sulking again. "Or you could just ask someone, like me. You're lucky to run into me, aren't you?" I put my arm around him, and he just stared curiously up at me. I quickly moved away, slightly embarrassed.

"Do you really not remember me?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Did we really meet? Pallet's not as big as a city like this, and I think I'd remember someone like you."

He folded his arms. "I guess you're not playing. But it doesn't matter, anyway. It's not like we have to know each other to have a pokemon battle."

No, no, not that! I panicked inwardly. Knowing him was exactly what I wanted, a pokemon battle was secondary, irrelevant even. He was practically a newbie compared to me. If it was anyone else, I would have refused the battle and left by now. But him.... I had a strong urge merely to know him. "What's your name, anyway?" I asked.

He shook his head, only smiling at me. "Why should I tell you, Gary? You'd just end up forgetting again, anyway."

"Doubtful. I remember the names of most trainers I've fought."

"But forgetting everyone from back home's okay with you?"

I clenched my jaw and said nothing. But he had a point, so there wasn't much use in arguing with him. People had to have at least some kind of fleeting importance in my mind in order for me to remember them. By battling with me, trainers did. I was talented enough at battling to realize that I'd need to be able to read the people as well as the pokemon involved, so I studied them, scrutinized them even, anything needed for the purposes of winning. But normal people, like those I'd met in the street or even visitors to my place of residence, I paid little attention to. With all of the people that came in and out of my grandpa's lab, I think I could only actually name a handful, and even then I didn't know if they were actually residents of Pallet Town or not.

I was kind of reserved kid, anyway. I didn't need to talk to people a lot. Not that I was shy, I just got caught up in other things. Maybe this kid was someone that I'd met for one day. When he was pretty young, and I was also a kid. I surely wouldn't have seen him the way I did now, not when we were both some bratty kids. Yeah, that was probably it.

I was surprised that I was even seeing him this way at all, if my head wasn't playing tricks on me. Guess that for this part of my life at least, I was a late bloomer. Well, considering all of my other talents, something had to give. It's too bad it had to be something I couldn't go study in order to master. I mean, I could only study him so much, humans are a lot more complicated than pokemon. Finding a move for beginning a good relationship was certainly more complicated than finding a move for a pokemon battle.

Funny enough, my move was to have a pokemon battle. I didn't know if it was a disastrous one or not. I mean, how would he react if he lost? It couldn't be completely foreign to him, but how did he treat his victors, anyway? Not that I was about to give anything less than my best. Who knew how he'd act in the unlikely event that he was the winner. Maybe he's never even want to see me again, seeing as then I'd have no value toward his pokemon journey. I didn't want to be treated with the same casual indifference that I treated the trainers that furthered my own experience. But at the same time, I didn't want to be like the guy who beat me to him, either. This was starting to look like a bad idea.

His pikachu had made it to the front door before us. It looked up at the closed automatic doors. "Pika," it said testily. It began to push in-between them, unsuccessfully trying to get it open. It wouldn't budge at all. I was about to snicker at its trouble when I noticed the pokemon getting in a familiar stance, little sparks rising from its cheeks.

"Hey, wait a minute!" I shouted.

"Huh?" he said.

"Pika?" the pikachu said and looked back at me.

"Your pikachu was about to electrocute the door, wasn't it? And you..." I said.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I'm so used to her just shocking everything that I forgot to do anything. Yeah, that would probably have been a pretty bad situation!" He laughed like it was a joke.

I sighed again. He'd been making me do that a lot. Breaking social norms was one thing, but this- "You need to keep it -- keep _her_ under control. Why isn't she in a pokeball, anyway?"

"Um, Pikachu doesn't like pokeballs."

"Right. And it -- _she_ does like causing property damage."

"Pikachu didn't really think about like that, did you, Pikachu?"

"Pika! Pika pika! Pikachu!" The pikachu began a long speech, and I marveled as her trainer pretended to understand it all, nodding and playing along. But I got the idea. Like trainer, like pokemon.

"Yeah, you were in a hurry to go in, right?" I said. As I walked up to the door, it opened automatically.

"Pika!" the pikachu said in surprise.

"The censor is right up here, shorty," I teased her and pointed at the area a little bit above her height.

"Chu." The pikachu turned away, a few sparks even flying from her cheeks as she snubbed me.

I raised an eyebrow. That pokemon seemed like a handful. "I hope your pikachu's powers make all the challenges that come with handling her worth it. If not, you might be better off trading her or something."

He shook his head. "It's not a challenge at all." I stared at him with disbelief and he continued. "Pikachu's my best friend, I don't really handle her. She's my first pokemon, given to me from Professor Oak on day one of my journey. I can't imagine life without her. We're kind of like partners!" He smiled as he told me this.

How naïve, I thought to myself. Human and pokemon relationships didn't work like that. There could be a mutual respect between parties, but it all came down to a power play. The fact was that humans used pokemon. It was a pleasant enough situation for them, usually, but the fact was the humans directed a trained pokemon's actions, and good pokemon followed orders. Taming these creatures was part of a delicate balance that the whole world for the most part played into, and a human concept like friendship didn't really come into play.

Still, his childish reasoning was kind of endearing in a way. And such loyalty was admirable, if misplaced. And if he had that kind of love for a little pocket monster, he might even be able to hold an affection for someone like me some day.

"Hey, there's already someone battling!" he yelled out.

"Of course, you didn't think that we'd be the only ones wanting to battle today, did you?" I said.

"Oh, it's Shigeru!" the receptionist said. As I glanced toward her, a slight blush came to her cheeks. "Sorry, sir. Their time is still for another hour, but the battle is open for any to watch."

"Should we?" I asked, turning back toward my self-proclaimed rival.

"Yeah... I've never been to one of these places. Maybe it would be best for me to watch a battle first."

Before he and I could go through the door to the stands, the receptionist spoke to us again. "Oh, wait!" she said. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir, but you neglected to note this in your reservation. Will your battle be open for the public to watch?"

I paused, then turned over to him. "I'll leave that to you, I don't care either way," I said.

"Oh, yeah, you bet anyone can watch! There's no reason to have something like a pokemon battle be private, anyway. Anyone who wants to can watch," he declared.

Well, he'd certainly be comfortable in a place like Indigo Stadium. The receptionist held her hand to her mouth, looking like she was holding back a very unprofessional outburst of glee, and as I turned toward the door, I saw her beginning a conversation on a sparkly pink cellphone. Great, I thought, so we'd definitely have an audience.

"Huh?" he said as we entered the room. "What, what's this?" He curiously pressed his hand against the window to the actual stadium.

"Looks like fingerprints," I said. He quickly took his hand down. "Didn't I tell you that building something like this didn't come cheap? This room is built especially to protect spectators."

"But in other stadiums they don't-"

"Trust me, in the stadiums you've seen on TV, there are measures set up to protect the audience, though they aren't as obvious. Here, with attacks like your pikachu's electricity flying around in such a small, contained area, a barrier is necessary."

"I guess," he said dubiously. Well, if he'd been battling within city limits all along and letting his pikachu shock anything and everything, I could see why he might be unconvinced.

"Pika!" The pikachu, who had been perched on his shoulder, now motioned toward the battle scene.

For the first time, I looked to the happenings outside the room. Well, this obviously wasn't going to be a learning experience. It was just a pair of kids, possibly ones that just reached the legal age, possibly even younger, not that I was hypocritical enough to say anything, of course. Inspecting the pokemon involved, I soon saw why the pikachu was so interested, a pokemon similar to her was out there.

"Oh... It's another pikachu!"

I about tripped as I heard this. Even his pikachu seemed to groan, saying "Chuu...." in a low tone.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Huh?" he said.

"That's a pichu! Of course, there are similarities, but there are some very distinct differences. That's why a pikachu is an evolution instead of just a pichu that grew a little bigger."

"I... I knew that. I've just never seen a pichu before," he said.

He seemed embarrassed at my lecturing. I hadn't meant to be condescending, even though I had. I didn't really see a way to fix it either, though. As I thought it over, a voice came across the speakers inside. "Pidgey, go!"

Good, a distraction, I thought to myself. I turned my attention away from him and toward the battle outside. "Ah, he's got no chance with that choice," I said. When we battled, what would his choices be like, I wondered? Wait, he had no choice. Though I'd brought a variety of pokemon, he'd only brought his pikachu. And after I thought that, I immediately had a strategy.

"Really? You think Pichu will win?" he asked with excitement. He and his pikachu stared wide-eyed at the battle.

"Thundershock!" the other kid's voice crackled through the speaker as he gave his pokemon an order. The pidgey soon fainted from the attack.

"Ah! Pichu was tired, but it won anyway! Who knew it was that powerful! Pretty impressive, huh Pikachu!"

"Pi," his pikachu replied pleasantly.

"How could you tell it was that powerful anyway, Gary?" he asked and turned back toward me.

"There's nothing to tell," I said. His blank stare demanded more of an answer. "Well... It's not unique to that pichu. All pokemon have impressive powers. It's all in how you use them," I said.

He suddenly came close to me, breaking the rules of personal space yet again. "I agree! I totally agree!" he almost shouted with excitement. "I believe in the power of my pokemon, AH-" He tripped over my feet as he tried to sit in the seat next to mine. But he quickly positioned himself in the seat, straightened his hat, and looked back at me. "I believe in their powers! All of my pokemon can be great, because they already are."

That wasn't quite what I'd meant, of course I'd be referring to the very basics of pokemon strategy through type advantages. But still, I nodded. He had passion, if nothing else. Besides, he was right, in a way. All of my knowledge, talent and experience would mean nothing if it wasn't combined with my cool confidence. Pokemon could tell if their trainer was nervous or unsure, and those feeling became contagious. My pokemon always knew we could win because _I_ also knew we could win. "You've got a point, and have to say I agree with you on that," I said.

"But I was just agreeing with _you_ about it," he said casually.

I didn't reply to that, and I didn't have anything else to say, either. He didn't seem to notice much, all of his attention was now dedicated to the battle. I decided to just remain silent. What was there to talk about at that moment, anyway? The kid wouldn't even tell me his _name_.

I sat back against the seat and closed my eyes, as the battle wasn't nearly as interesting to me. But still, I felt at ease in the viewing room. The fact that I was anxiety free confused me a little. Not that I was the type to obsess over nerves, but I did obsess over my opponents. Little things that I noticed, such as the ways my opponents communicated with their pokemon, often ended up giving me an advantage. There was always more to learn, but...

This was an unnatural state of calm. I'd say it was completely foreign, but at the same time I felt a bit of nostalgia. Maybe it was similar to time I'd spent with him before, part of the memories of him that I'd thrown out. I lay back and stared at the plain white ceiling, only partially listening to the calls and jeers over the loudspeaker and even the conversation between him and his pikachu. I tried to dig deeper into my memory, maybe get a small piece of the part I'd been missing.

Just when I thought I'd reach it, I was interrupted by shrieks. I sat up, startled, and looked to the door. The receptionist with behind her several other girls behind her stood there staring at us. "Um, everything's all set for your battle, sir."

"Already?" I said.

I looked at the seat next to me, and saw he was glaring at me. "You were napping, weren't you?"

"Yeah..." I said hesitantly. I hadn't realized it, but if so much time had passed, I likely had been.

"You're not going to say you're too tired to battle me, are you?" he asked crossly. The girls at the door also looked a bit worried.

"Of course not," I said. "I'm completely rested. No, better than rested. Let's go."

The girls cheered happily as the two of us exited to go battle.

"Good luck, Shige- _sir_," the receptionist said, and the girls around her nodded and even squealed in delight.

"Thank you," I said.

I noticed he rolled his eyes as we finally walked in. "Must be nice to have a team of girls cheering for you wherever you go," he said.

"Not all the time," I said honestly. Sometimes I did feel like reacting the way he just had, with absolute disdain. But, as my grandpa had lectured me before, it really did me no favors to act that way. Besides, the receptionist her was somewhat professional, I noticed she kept a distance between me and the spectators. Unfortunately, this didn't always happen.

The door shut behind us, and sealed. Suddenly, I did start to feel the nerves. Why? It was a small stadium, with only about five people watching me, and a battle against an amateur. As he took his place by the opposite podium and stared with determination back at me, it only made things worse. I almost felt frozen, and I couldn't even take my eyes away from the ground.

"Why are you just standing there? Are you waiting for something?" he called loudly to be from across the room.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the feeling that was almost like stage fright. But that didn't make sense, considering that this was a comfortable setting and situation, a place I'd been multiple times before. In a place like this I could always show off my knowledge and talent, being completely competent in all activities that occurred here.

Except when the battle ended and it was time to socialize... Despite how I felt about the trainer, it never seemed to go well. I could rarely make a good impression, let alone friends, and even then I could never keep them. Throughout the years I'd learned to make as quick an exit as possible before I broke the good impression or otherwise messed things up. This left a nice, professional distance between me and any other trainers. But now, I didn't want to do that, and had no idea where to start.

"Come on! I'm ready, there's no reason to delay!" he called again.

I took a deep breath and drew up some of my default trainer confidence. At the very least, I could start by not bomb at what I was good at. "Ready? No, you're not," I said. I took out my pokedex and placed it on the podium. The screen on the wall now lit up with my picture.

"Ah!" he said, and quickly followed my example. His own picture soon appeared on the screen, and under that, his name. Well, this was something, I thought as I stared at it and tried to see if it could help be remember anything further.


	4. I, Chapter 3: Turn at Defeat

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 3: Turn at Defeat_

* * *

I smirked as I read the name off the screen, written in large black typeface. "So, it's Satoshi?"

"Huh?" he said.

"Your name!" I pointed at the wall.

"Oh..." he said. "Yeah, it's just I hardly hear that at all. Nobody calls me Satoshi. You sure didn't. Just like you never went by Shigeru. I didn't even know that was your real name."

I clenched my jaw with irritation. So even this wasn't going to get me my answer. "Well, it is your name, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Well then, Satoshi, we'll have a one-on-one battle, right?" I quickly entered the right settings for that type of battle. Back in this routine, I'd regained my composure.

"Why only one?"

"You only brought one pokemon, right?" I asked.

"That's right!" It seemed that Satoshi had just now realized this. "I just remembered... All my other pokemon... They're back with Nurse Joy..."

"Well then, since I'm already paying for time, it's a one-on-one battle," I said. I looked up from the podium. "Done. _Now_ we're ready."

He grinned and pushed back his hat. "Alright! Pikachu, I choose you!"

Of course he did, I thought to myself. It was his only pokemon and even a grade schooler would take only only a minute to come up with a strategy against it. I had a ground type with me, one that could easily beat his pikachu, even with every ounce of power the electric pokemon could muster pouring into it. Because not only were electric attacks at a disadvantage, they had absolutely no effect on ground types. A larger, more muscular electric type could still use its normal attacks, but this little thing? Game over before we even began.

I sighed. "It's no wonder you only have sixty percent wins. Actually, it might be a wonder why it's even that high," I said.

"What?! What do you know? And how _could_ you even know how many wins I have?" Satoshi demanded.

"Your pokedex automatically records all of your battles. You do keep it with you all the time, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "I think I remember hearing about this. I've found your stats too." He grinned at me, but that expression disappeared as he looked at the actual statistics. "Wait! There's no way your win rate is real. It's gotta be wrong."

"Actually, it kind of is. The number's rounded down, so it's above what you see."

"Above ninety-nine percent?!"

"Yeah, after all I've had hundreds of battles, and only ever lost once. It really should be rounded up to a hundred, but I guess the program doesn't want it to appear like I was undefeated or anything."

"Once?" Satoshi repeated dubiously, a wide-eyed expression on his face. "I didn't know you were that good..." I saw him look down in disbelief, but then just as quickly he looked back up, looking me in the eyes with confidence. "That doesn't matter, anyway. A battle's a battle, and you'd better not back away from this challenge."

"I never do," I said as I brought out my pokeball. "Talk about transparent, you've had your cards laid down in front of me from the start. I could use a ground type to quickly finish you off, but..." I threw my pokeball out into the field. "I don't want it to end that quickly."

My blastoise roared out a loud "Blastoise!" as he exited.

"Pika!" His pikachu quickly dashed out of the way as my blastoise stomped down onto the floor. She then stared up at him, putting her ears back and cowering.

"Think of it as a handicap," I said.

"What? Just because Blastoise is so much bigger, you think its enough of an advantage to handicap Pikachu?"

"No," I said immediately. "Of course not."

"Then what do you mean?"

"You really don't know, do you?" Satoshi's silent stare gave me the answer. "You're the one with a certain kind of advantage here, Satoshi," I explained.

"It still feels weird to have you call me that..." he mused.

"Never mind that. You should know why you have the advantage, especially since it seems like you use that pikachu an awful lot. Water conducts electricity, which makes water types extremely vulnerable to electric attacks."

"So..."

"So I've just given you a little bit of an edge."

"Why would you do that?"

A little foolish mercy on my part, I thought to myself. But instead I said, "It would be a complete waste of my time to just trump you from the start. Now, that's more than enough free advice from me. Let's get started."

"You're finally ready, huh?" Ash looked back at me dauntlessly. Even his pikachu seemed more confident, apparently after hearing my words. "Pikachu, I know we can beat him! Go for it with your thundershock!"

So, he was all for getting to the point right away, huh? I could relate. "Blastoise, deflect it!"

My blastoise turned, and the attack hit his shell, protecting him from the attack.

"Pika!" The pikachu seemed bewildered at the result.

Satoshi was equally surprised. "But you said-"

"Said you had a type advantage, not that I didn't have defences against it," I said. The type advantage was only of slight concern, actually. One of my blastoise's high powered water attacks could still defeat Satoshi's pikachu in one hit, but that was only if the attack did in fact hit. I wasn't sure he could hit such a tiny target on the first try, and a miss would still cover the battlefield in water, and that would be the end of me. So, I decided I'd win without the use of any water type attacks. My blastoise was physically powerful enough to defeat that little pikachu. "Blastoise, tackle!"

Upon my order, my blastoise charged at the pikachu. The panic in Satoshi's eyes was almost like the blastoise was headed for him. "Pikachu!" he shouted. "Agility!"

Pikachu went into defensive mode and began to leap around the field, going so fast and in such random directions that it was difficult to follow where she was. Of course, I'd already thought of the pikachu's speed as being another advantage over my blastoise. But I was pretty sure I could get around it. I followed the direction of Satoshi's gaze. He knew where his pikachu was going, even if I didn't. I didn't give my blastoise any further instructions as the pikachu did its little dance.

"Pikachu, now, thundershock again!"

As soon as I'd seen Satoshi open his mouth to speak, I'd known my move. "Blastoise, behind you! Tail whip!"

Of course my blastoise couldn't turn around to attack, but he easily moved his tail, and tripped the tiny pikachu mid-attack, stopping her. "Pikaa!" she shouted in frustration.

"Pikachu!" Satoshi shouted. No command, he hadn't prepared this far.

"Now Blastoise, tackle!" I ordered.

My blastoise turned around, hitting the pikachu with his tail again, which knocked her on the ground yet again. Once facing pikachu, blastoise swiped his arm and knocked her across the field.

"Chaa!" Pikachu cried out in pain as she hit the wall. Still, she stood up, still fit to battle.

"Pikachu!" Satoshi called.

"Alright, one more hit should do it," I said.

Satoshi glared at me, still with that same confidence as when we'd first began the battle. "Hang in there, Pikachu! You can still win! Blastoise can be taken down with your electricity!"

"Blastoise, tackle again!" I ordered. Satoshi was forming a plan, but that didn't matter, I'd finish off his pikachu before he could respond.

"Pikachu, watch out!" Satoshi said. Just as my blastoise was about to attack, the pikachu darted around it. "Get on its back, Pikachu! He can't get you there!" Satoshi said.

Pikachu scurried up my Blastoise's shell, and hung onto his cannon. I could clearly see where this was going. "Blastoise, knock her off! To the right!"

Confused, Blastoise turned his head to the wrong cannon, and pikachu wasn't there, so he quickly swatted at the other end, once, then twice, and pikachu flew up in the air from the impact. I could see she was hurt by the impact, but still conscious. And being in the air put her at a very good vantage point.

Satoshi saw this too, and wasted no time as his pikachu fell back toward the ground. "Thundershock!" he ordered.

There was only a second to respond, and I knew my blastoise, still turning his head and not even sure that he'd knocked pikachu off, might not be able to see where the attack was coming from before it was too late. But, my pokemon could also immediately follow a command, and soon the pikachu would be at the perfect spot to be hit by one of his water attacks.

"Hydro pump!" I commanded even before Satoshi finished his own order.

"Chuuu!" Pikachu's thundershock began at the same time as the stream of water shot out of my blastoise's cannons. That attack might be trouble for my blastoise, but if pikachu was hit with that sort of impact, I'd be the sure winner, I considered.

But instead, the pikachu dodged right next to the stream of water, just barely missing it. However, her electric attack hit the stream of water, traveling down and hitting my blastoise. As the water from the hydro pump attack flowed down the walls like a waterfall, my blastoise also fell down. As Satoshi's pikachu finally hit the ground, she again bounced up from the impact of my now unconscious blastoise hitting the floor.

"Chu!" The pikachu sighed in a tired voice, and then playfully signed a "v".

"No way," I said, hardly believing it. Had the jolt really been that powerful from just a pikachu?

"Alright! We did it! You did it, Pikachu! We're the winners!" Satoshi shouted.

I took a look at my blastoise. Satoshi was right, he was certainly in no shape to continue the battle. He had taken electric attacks before, but not with the electric pokemon using the conduction of his own water attack against him. Had this been something that Satoshi had planned, or just luck on his part along with a bad choice on my part? I should have stuck with my waterless attack strategy, but that couldn't be undone now. I returned blastoise to his pokeball.

Satoshi ran only the field, momentarily slipping on the puddles before learning down, his pikachu jumped in his arms for a hug. What a loving scene it was. How nice it must be to be that close to someone, even if that someone was a pokemon.

I casually walked out onto the field myself and put out my hand. "It was a good battle, Satoshi," I said.

Satoshi looked a little confused, but still shook my hand, then grinning back at me as he did. "It sure was, Gary! I'm sorry I had to hurt Blastoise, though..."

"No need to apologize for doing what the battle intended for in the first place," I said. I looked up at the ceiling. The construction materials hadn't been strong enough to withstand one of blastoise's attacks, there was now a definite indent on both sides where the attack had hit. It would have been a lot worse for the pikachu, had Satoshi ended up the loser. But why should either of us feel like apologizing about it? Trainers did what was required to win battles.

"Uh, yeah," Satoshi said hesitantly.

"I'm heading back to the center. You coming?" I asked, trying not to appear too eager.

"Yeah! Let's get you fixed up, Pikachu!" Satoshi said.

As we exited the room, the girls that had been watching were waiting for us. The receptionist stood up straighter. "That was a spectacular battle, sir! Come back and visit again anytime."

"But Shigeru lost," one of the girls said.

"It happens to everyone," I said. "I was never under any impression that I'd remain undefeated forever."

"But this was the second time you lost, right?" Satoshi pointed out.

"Yeah, and it won't be the last time, probably. Live and learn, you know?" I said.

"That's right," Satoshi said.

"I'm sure you've learned a lot in your time," I teased. Satoshi scowled. "You probably wouldn't have been able to beat me, otherwise."

"Yes, and it wasn't a fair fight, anyway," one of the girls said.

Satoshi turn around to face the group of girls. "Hey!" he shouted.

I saw right then he was going to have some kind of outburst. I gently put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around and looked at me, confused. I spoke to them instead. "It was definitely possible for my blastoise to win, or else it would have been completely irresponsible of me to bring him out. I'm not that kind of trainer." As I said this, the girl looked down guiltily.

Then I grabbed onto Satoshi's hand and took him out the door. That was enough of that.

"Um... Thanks," Satoshi said.

"You don't need to get into an argument with people who don't know what they're talking about," I said.

"I couldn't just let her say those things, especially not in front of Pikachu, who tried so hard to win!"

"Pika!" His pikachu nodded in agreement.

He didn't get it. If he'd responded maturely, so would his pokemon. Oh well, I certainly couldn't change his stubborn ways. I imagined him in a battle in a more formal setting stopping to defend his pokemon's honor and snickered.

"What?" Satoshi asked.

"Nothing, nothing," I said.

Satoshi accepted that, and then was silent for a few moments, apparently in thought. "She was right though... You didn't give it your best," Satoshi said.

"I already explained-"

"I know! But I'm going to train even harder now, and the next time you see me, I'll be able to beat you no matter what pokemon you use."

The next time? Was that it, was it time to part right here? As I wondered this, my grip on his hand loosened somewhat.

"I'm going to work hard, and I'll become a real rival to you. You won't have to give me any, um, 'advice' anymore. Next time, I'll be a challenge like you've never faced before! You can count on that," he declared. "Um, you can let go now," he said.

We'd reached the Pokemon Center, though I hadn't noticed it. I let go of his hand and he darted inside. Feeling and seeing him walk away from me, I felt bad, worse than I had when I lost to someone the first time. Actually, I hadn't cared that much when I'd lost this time. The disappointment had been there, but it had been very slight. Much worse the idea of parting right now, it had me feeling so painfully... Lonely. Since when had loneliness been something that I couldn't handle?

Remembering that I of course needed a trip to the Pokemon Center as well, I walked into the building as well. There I saw Nurse Joy lecturing Satoshi.

"But we won," he said.

"That's not why I'm concerned! If the pokemon was in a condition that it had to see me, it never should have been sent out to battle," she said. Turning to me, she said, "Welcome, sir, can I help you?"

"Yeah," I said, and put down my blastoise's pokeball.

"Alright, Shigeru," she said, having seen my name from the data registered with the pokeball. "We'll take good care of your blastoise. I'll be back in just a moment," she said as she picked up my pokeball. "You." She pointed to Satoshi. "Stay right there!"

Satoshi tapped his foot impatiently, but still stayed. I realized that I could leave, and probably should either leave or say something, so I spoke. "So, I'll be seeing you at the Indigo League this year, then?"

"No, you know I only have four badges! It'll take me another year or two to get the rest. Maybe you'll even be done with the Indigo League by then. But it doesn't matter where we meet, or how many years later, I'll still be ready for you."

Years, huh. Yeah, I guess there was no reason to keep in touch with him or anything, I was just some kid he'd known that had forgotten him. But maybe...

"You think it'll take you that long to earn the badges to get to the Indigo League? Maybe I can help you. A little transportation and guidance, and I'll get you to your goal _this_ year."

"No!" Satoshi immediately replied. I have to admit I was a little startled back by his suddenness and insistency. "That wouldn't be right! You're my rival, there's no way I'll catch up to your level if I just rely on you!"

Of course, being able to know what I knew would help him quite a bit, and certainly wouldn't give me any advantage, but he seemed determined to reject me.

"Don't worry about me, I can still get ahead on my own," he said. He looked back where Nurse Joy had gone, and then at the clock. "I think I have to go meet my friend... Wait until Brock hears what I did today!" he said excitedly. He looked again to the back of the Pokemon Center, and then towards me. "Um, I'll see you later, Gary."

I only watched silently as he left, feeling that pang of loneliness again. I shook it off. It wasn't like we didn't have things in common, ways to be driven together. So he wanted be my rival, and first on his mind was pokemon, and especially battling them. It's not like I couldn't relate. In fact, I could easily work with this. I was going to see him again, and it undoubtedly wasn't going to be years later. I'd easily be able to draw him closer to me with something that he wanted and I could provide.


	5. I, Chapter 4: Invitation

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 4: Invitation_

* * *

Grandpa walked in to find me in his office. I sat at the spacious desk, with several stacks of neatly organized papers in front of me. He usually wouldn't hesitate to greet me right away, but for now he was silent. This usually meant that he had something that he considered "important" to talk to me about, or was "concerned" about how I was doing. I continued to do what I was doing, writing on the gold-fringed card in front of me, until he cleared his throat.

"Hey Gramps, do you need me to clear out?" I asked. Yeah, that wasn't the kind of awkward thing he wanted to talk to me about, but it would be nice if he only needed me to leave the office.

"No... No, Gary, it's quite alright for you to continue working here, it's no trouble to me at all. But I do have something important to talk to you about. I'm concerned about this new project of your's."

Yeah. Just like I thought. Well, I was spending his money, after all. "Well, if it's any trouble, I can just cancel it. Don't want to burden you with anything."

"Oh, no. No no, it's not the project itself that concerns me. It seems a healthy endeavor, and I'll be quite excited just to observe it. It _will_ be a lot of work, and take plenty of planning, but I can see you've got that under control. Of course, it's no trouble to me. But..."

Now it was really about to begin. Here came the part where Grandpa would pick at every aspect of my existence.

"I need to know what your motive is, Gary. This seems to me like something you'd avoid participating in. Well, I'm certainly pleased to you reaching out to your fellow trainers. You can use these years as an opportunity to form many connections. Ah, the pokemon battle truly does allow you to forge lifelong friendships with your fellow trainers as well as your pokemon," Grandpa seemed to look out into nowhere wistfully as he rambled. Then he cleared his throat again in his discomfort and looked back at me. "Well Gary, _is_ that your motivation?"

I closed my eyes and smiled a moment. Well, I couldn't out and out tell him all of the details behind the reason I came up with this idea. "You know Gramps, I haven't been forging those lifelong friendships at all," I said. Grandpa just nodded, though he slightly furrowed his brow. We'd had conversations about my standoffishness before. "Yeah, I kind of regret it, though. I thought maybe inviting all these trainers I've met in the past... Um, I figured that would help me, well, socialize," I said in a small voice. Socialize was a word Grandpa used a lot. He wished that I'd do more of it. "I mean, it would be a friendly event. Not like those big, competitive tournaments or gym battles where everything's often on the line. It might help everyone... Socialize." It was pretty much the truth, if an abridged and edited version of it.

Grandpa nodded. "I can see you've given it a lot of thought. I imagine that you'll spend a lot of time organizing this. I spoke with Tracey about it, and he said he'd be more than happy to help you."

Tracey? In my mind, the name seemed a little familiar, but it was a minute before I remembered him. Of course, he was grandpa's new and zealous assistant. He'd probably be more than happy to help with the menial jobs. I planned to hire a few extra hands just for the night, but being able to tell Tracey everything to do beforehand would be a lot of help for me. "Great. Tell him thanks, I'm gonna take him up on that offer."

"Wonderful. Well then, I'll be around, but I'll try not to disturb your work."

Yeah. It's me that shouldn't be disturbing his work, but Grandpa can be very passive and accommodating. Not just with me, though. Which made one thing I knew about sound kind of funny... "Hey, Gramps, you know that pikachu you told me about?"

"A pikachu?" he repeated. Of course, he wasn't going to remember just like that.

"Yeah, a really uncooperative, violent one."

"Oh, yes, that one."

Good, now he remembered it. "You didn't end up giving it to one of those newbie trainers you help out, did you?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't... Wait, in this case, I did exactly that!" Grandpa gave a slight laugh as he remembered it. "Yes, that's what ended up happening. I had no more of the starter pokemon, but I did have that pikachu, of course. I didn't plan to give it to him, but he was so insistent and so enthusiastic about the idea that I thought I might give it a try! Yes... Well, everything worked out with that situation. I thought he might be back at my lab within a few days, but it didn't happen. Pikachu and its trainer are both very happy with the arrangement."

Everything worked out, huh? Oh, if only he knew. Well, if did know, he'd probably be the same accommodating person as he usually was, giving Satoshi advice on training the pikachu while she destroyed the lab. "So, who was this unlucky trainer?" I asked.

"He's actually a childhood friend of your's, Gary. You'd probably remember him."

It seemed weird that even Grandpa remembered this while I didn't. "Who?" I asked.

"Well...." Grandpa seemed to be struggling to remember his name. Grandpa even seemed to have trouble remembering _my_ name at times, so I just waited. "Well... Oh... His name is... Ah....." he paused again. "Well, he'd go by Satoshi, now. I remember discussing with Delia what she was going to name him... It really doesn't seem that long ago."

Well, it would have been surprising if Grandpa had been able to answer this question. I just moved on in the conversation. "Yeah, I know Satoshi. Don't remember him being my childhood friend though," I said.

"Is that right?"

"But Satoshi was the second person to beat me, right before I came back home," I admitted.

"Oh?" Grandpa raised his eyebrow. Just as I'd thought before, he didn't really care much about the idea of my defeat.

"Yeah, I kind of just let him have a type advantage, though. It's no big deal," I said.

He nodded. "I see. Oh, that must have been what he was referring to yesterday, then."

"Yesterday?"

"Well, yesterday I was over at his house having tea, and he did say something about his recent victories. I understand now that it must have the victory over you that he'd been referring to when he'd said that his pikachu had defeated a blastoise."

"He's at home?" I asked. Of course, I'd assumed that he wouldn't be, still on his badge collecting journey and all.

"Oh, yes. He visits his home in Pallet quite often. Much more than you did when you were at his stage."

"Well... I guess I'll visit him, then."

"So, you'll be inviting your victors to this event, then?"

"Well, I'll invite Satoshi. The other one was just a kid. His victory was just a fluke. He probably wouldn't fit in here. I wouldn't want it to seem like I was picking on him or anything just because he beat me."

Grandpa only nodded at me again, though I thought he must have had a thought on that he wouldn't share. Something bothered him but I was supposed to figure out on my own. He was always like that. It pissed me off. Since he had nothing more to say, I just reached for my pokedex, which had likely stored Satoshi's address, unless he'd made it private. "Good luck with organizing things, Gary," my grandpa said to me as I had my head down, absorbed in my work. Then he left.

I crossed off Satoshi's name from my CenterMail list. Originally, I'd planned to send him a message that way, it would show up at whatever Pokemon Center he traveled to. But how much better it would be to just invite him in person. For one thing, it might be more difficult to refuse me face to face. And just getting to see him again... Yeah, that would be nice.

I hurriedly finished writing out an invitation to Satoshi, and then dashed out the door. I hoped he hadn't left town yet. A map led me to the door of the address he was registered under. I really hoped it was still accurate. Just as Satoshi wasn't the type to keep his address private, he probably also wasn't really the type to keep it updated. Well, people didn't move around much here in Pallet, so I took the chance to ring the doorbell at the quaint looking place that I arrived at.

A pleasant-looking woman answered, and she smiled upon seeing me. "Oh! If it isn't little Gary Oak," she said.

Nearly the entire population of Pallet Town knew me as Gary, but this was the first time in a while some had referred to me as little. "Um, good evening," I said. Yeah, it was still possible to be polite when I didn't remember someone's name.

Sure enough, this lady grinned back at my greeting. "I see your grandfather all the time, but it's been a while since you've come down here. So, why have you come so far out of your way?"

"Well..." I paused. I usually wasn't social, and this bothered some people, so this question was a little awkward. "I just came to speak to Satoshi."

"Satoshi," she repeated thoughtfully. "Of course you've come to visit him. You two were such close friends, after all."

Not just childhood friends, but close friends now? Well, this woman was obviously exaggerating her happy mood, she could also be exaggerating our friendship. Or maybe Satoshi himself had, I thought with a smirk.

"Come in." She opened up the door wider and invited me in. "He's out back training, I'll be sure to invite him in." As I walked in, she walked off.

As I walked in, I was surprised at who I saw. It wasn't Satoshi, but- "Brock?"

Brock wore a frilly pink apron and stood in front of a cutting board where he'd been preparing some vegetables. He seemed surprised and he saw me but not really that ashamed of his dress. "Shigeru," he said as he realized who I was. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. Brock had been the leader of one of the first gyms I'd beaten. What a serious guy he'd been, all business from when I'd entered to when I'd beat him, right up to the point when I'd went out the door. But what was he doing here now, in Satoshi's kitchen, wearing pink? I recalled that Satoshi had mentioned Brock, now it was obvious that he meant this Brock, but were they really such close friends that he'd be here?

Before I could ask him about it, Satoshi entered the room himself, his pikachu on his shoulder. He looked even better than the last time I'd seen him, likely because he made sure to take care of himself better while he was home. "Gary!" he shouted. "Why are you here! What do you want?"

Ah, how blunt he was. Satoshi wasted no time with pleasantries. Others might find this kind of thing to be abrasive, but I actually felt more relaxed than I had around the unknown woman and Brock. Exchanging hellos and good-byes was so tedious, at least we both had a mutual understanding on that. I smiled at Satoshi before I spoke.

Satoshi looked away from me and even seemed to pout. "I don't think I'm ready for a rematch yet," he said. "Didn't I tell you it might be a while before we faced each other again?"

"Rematch? No," I said. I held up the envelope to Satoshi, and he snatched it away.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's an invitation to my own personal pokemon tournament," I said.

"Your own personal tournament?" he said. I smirked again at how intimidated he seemed. "How can you even do something like that?"

"Anyone could," I said honestly. "Though I doubt _anyone's_ would be as good as mine." I was inviting so many top trainers, after all. "I can count on seeing you there, then?"

"No, I can't go. I'm not ready to face you yet." Satoshi said.

"Man, what an ego you have there," I said.

"What?"

"You're assuming you'll even get to battle me. I know I'll make to the end, but how about you? You might not even make it through one round. Yeah, maybe it's best that you decline," I taunted.

Satoshi and his pikachu both had matching frowns, and I could tell Satoshi was giving it some thought. "Well... I have to train for my next gym badge, anyway."

"Why do you think I invited you?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Satoshi, there are going to be so many gym leaders there. I'll be inviting every gym leader I've ever beaten, plus some. Oh, and many will show up, I've talked to them they think it'll be a blast. You could get a chance to find information on them, get an advantage in battle before you even have one."

"Are you saying my pokemon aren't enough of an advantage?" Satoshi asked.

Now that comment annoyed me. Who did he think he was talking to? There would always be someone with a better, more well-trained pokemon with more powerful attacks, no matter who you were. Of course training pokemon alone wasn't enough. How did he think I had remained undefeated for so long? "Yes," I said. "That's exactly what I'm saying.

"Pika!" his Pikachu said. Sparks shot out around her cheeks now as she glared at me. That rat really didn't like me.

But neither did her trainer. He stared back at me just as angrily. I felt a little disappointed that I'd messed up yet again, but I couldn't just have let that last comment slide. "Well, then I'll just-" he began.

"Wait," Brock interrupted and put a hand on Satoshi's shoulder. "Listen for once. Shigeru's right," he said. "Most trainers actually come into a gym after doing a little homework. Just like how my advice has helped you in several of your gym battles."

Satoshi now looked a little sheepish, and his pikachu had also calmed down. "Yeah?" he said.

"That's right," Brock continued. "Back in Pewter Gym, the trainers that did have this knowledge definitely had an advantage. Shigeru here seemed to know my pokemon's moves before I even said them. It wasn't _just_ his well-trained pokemon that beat me."

"Yeah?"

"So, you should go," Brock said.

Satoshi's expression softened, and he seemed ready to agree. I was pleased, but also felt a little envy over the casualness and comfortableness of their conversation.

"But..." Brock began.

But? I held my breath. Brock had been helping me out until now, I hoped he hadn't thought of some good reason for Satoshi to keep away.

Brock turned to me. "Where's my invitation? You said you were inviting _every_ gym leader you'd fought!"

Oh, so that was all. Good. "It's back at my grandpa's lab. How was I supposed to guess you'd be here? I was going to send it to Pewter City."

"Oh, no! I'll be over to pick it up in person," Brock insisted.

I hadn't been lying to Satoshi before, Brock's enthusiastic response was pretty typical of the gym leaders I'd contacted so far. It looked like this event might turn into a competitions between gym leaders, not that they were the only ones I invited. I just imagined that none of them would want to get shown up by the others. If it turned into that kind of thing, I didn't mind. There was only one reason I wanted to have this competition.

I turned away from Brock and back toward Satoshi. "So, Satoshi. Can I take it that you'll be there?" I asked.

"Um... Yeah," he said.

"Great. I'll see you in about a month then," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "Oh, and I'll be ready then," he insisted. "Maybe even for you... No, definitely, we'll prepare for beating you!"

"Pika!" his pikachu shouted in agreement.

As I walked home, I felt satisfied that I'd still be able to follow through with my original plan. Everything involved with planning, and then meeting and greeting at the actual event would be tedious, but at least Satoshi would still be there. Maybe I'd get an opportunity to get close to him.

Or maybe not, I considered darkly. After all, I hadn't even been able to convince Satoshi to come in the first place, it had someone who was already close to him. I thought even more about Brock, and ended up feeling even more envious. He seemed to be around Satoshi so much, and could even say things that I'd wanted to without angering him.

I was even more jealous when, the next day, Satoshi and Brock arrived at my door, together. They had on backpacks, obviously ready to take some trip together. Satoshi nodded at me with some vacant, day-dreamy expression, and Brock just grinned. "Hey, Shigeru! You know why I'm here."

"I don't see why you needed to stop here," Satoshi said.

"Um... Yeah, your invitation. I'll just go up to the office and get it," I said. Satoshi was still a little angry at me, maybe. And why was he hanging out with this gym leader, anyway? "Why don't you come with me?" I suggested to Brock.

Brock followed me without a question. As we both walked down the hall, I looked behind and saw Satoshi now sit down by the door, looking bored. I walked quickly ahead, onto the office. When we got there, I pretended to not know exactly where I'd placed Brock's invitation, and just casually leafed through the various stacks. "Hey, why's a talented trainer like you spending time with Satoshi, anyway?" I asked.

"I don't know, really. A- That is, Satoshi, wasn't the most talented trainer I've fought for sure, but something about him was, um, inspiring," Brock said. I raised an eyebrow, and he continued. "Yeah, he really helped me out, and I just kind of thought it would be fun to follow around a new trainer, you know? I do think Satoshi has a lot of potential, but he also needs a lot of direction. It's really rewarding to see when you've made a difference with someone, and I think I can with him."

"Hm," I said. The last part seemed innocent enough, but I still needed to know if what I suspected was true. I picked up Brock's invitation now. "Hey, don't take this the wrong way or anything," I said, even knowing it could certainly be taken a negative way. "But are you gay?"

"What?" Brock seemed bewildered at the question. "Oh... No. Just because I hang around- No, no, no. It doesn't bother me that he swings that way, but we're just friends."

I handed Brock his invitation. "That who swings that way?" I asked.

"Well- You mean, you didn't know? Then why did you..."

I just let Brock sit in his own confusion about why I'd wonder if something was going on between him and the guy that spent so much close and personal time with. It was because I wanted to be more close and personal with him, of course. He didn't really need to know that. I walked silently toward the door, and he followed me.

Satoshi stood, looking eager to go. Before Brock could get to there and lead him away from me for now, I walked up to him and took the time to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Good luck, Satoshi," I said.

He seemed surprised, but then his expression reflected his excitement and determination. "Thanks, Gary!" he said. "I'll be sure to train hard. I'm not going to disappoint my rival."

As Satoshi waved good-bye and walked away with Brock, I put on a pleasant expression. One moment of positive interaction was a start, anyway. Maybe that would be the moment that would stick in his mind the entire month. I just hoped at the least that he wouldn't be too disappointed himself when he attended and realized just how little of a difference a month of even the most intense training would make.


	6. I, Chapter 5: Coach

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 5: Coach_

* * *

In the park set aside for this event, the atmosphere was energetic, as the area was full of excited trainers and their pokemon alike. Many chose to let a few of their pokemon outside of their pokeballs, even in cases where I sure it wasn't something they'd normally do. To let them get exercise or enjoy the fresh air, they said, or the less used but more often true excuse, to show them off. Well, if they really wanted to show their opponents their hand, that was their business, not mine. I merely remained annoyed at how all of the powerful creatures meandering created obstacles for everyone around. But mostly everyone I'd invited were talented trainers that knew how to control their pokemon, so I wasn't too worried.

Not that the park was only filled with people that I'd invited. There were many onlookers, come here for various reasons. Family of participants, professional researchers that knew Grandpa, fans, and various other onlookers helped to crowd the area. It wasn't enough constantly greeted by participating trainers -- they all knew me to some extent, after all -- but others that I didn't even recognize stopped me to praise me for my ideas and accomplishments, thank me for hosting, or just say hello for no reason at all. I couldn't save a breath without replying.

And I was absolutely miserable. Not that I'd gotten in over my head... I just happened to be in a very crowded pool, perhaps with spots of acid here and there. Many people I'd invited to come didn't especially like me. Some even thought of me as arrogant, as I'd overheard several times. Others probably even held a grudge, as ugly as it was even to them.

I didn't care. I had no problem with just not caring about their perceptions of me. That is, one on one. But I had to admit, having all of them in one place and dealing with them one after another like this left me with an awful distaste. I soon became exhausted, even early on in the day. If it were anyone else's event, I just wouldn't be there. But unfortunately, I'd dug this hole for myself. So I put on the pleasant face and happily greeted everyone at the same time as making sure everything was running smoothly.

Luckily, much of that responsibility had been transferred to my grandpa's always eager to be helpful lab assistant, Tracey. He followed my planning instructions well and thankfully became the one who really moved things along for this event. But despite Tracey keeping his normal, pleasant, polite disposition, I could see him starting to buckle under the pressure. His polite nods took just a little bit longer, and he would become visibly confused, his expression changing completely as multiple people called to him at once. I stepped in several times to ease the pressure, or maybe just avoid others by looking busy by helping Tracey handed out schedules and repeated various information.

Eventually I was able to take a break as the crowd thinned out. I went to a stand of one of the various vendors I'd invited to the event and bought a bottle of water. Gulping it down, I looked at the schedule and saw a popular gym leader was competing at the moment. Due to the lack of locations with adequate audience protection in place, a lot of matches were at least semi-private. This one was held at Pallet Town's brand new rental stadium. I imagined that many spectators were there, and even more crowded outside hoping to watch. If it gave me a brief moment alone, good, I considered.

Then I wondered if Satoshi might be in that audience. I hadn't seen him at all, which was of course the reason I wanted this event to happen in the first place. Admitting this to myself left me feeling absolutely pathetic, but even that emotion still couldn't mask the disappointment I felt. I might even head over there, maybe just to check... Even though seeing him in the crowd wasn't really what I wanted, and then my short break would definitely be over... But still....

While I was weighing the options I heard a thump as a table fell over. It was Satoshi, without his trademark pikachu, even. I stared as he looked at the toppled fold-out table ahead of him, pausing the moment before he picked it back up, struggling to fix the umbrella. Well, looks like I didn't have to head back over to the madness after all.

Though the pikachu was gone, Brock was still nearby. He prattled on about something. I didn't hear him, I hardly heard Satoshi's reply, other than his firm insistence that he had no time. He continued to struggle with the handle as I walked closer to him. "I can't go back home for dinner now! And I can't go see that battle, either! I'm gonna eat here, then I'll go get my pokemon, then I'll go to my next battle..."

I came up to him wordlessly. As he saw me, his expression changed from mildly annoyed to surprised. I put my hand over his, and he soon let go of the umbrella. I easily opened it, then sat down in one of the fold out chairs beside the table. "Headed to your next battle, huh?" I said. Round one was over, and everyone should have had their first battle already.

"Yeah..." Satoshi said.

"You won your first won, then? Probably should have been simple, considering half of that trainer's pokemon are water type."

"She didn't use any of those," Satoshi said, seeming to start to sulk again. "But yeah, I won! And I heard about you winning, too."

"Also not really a surprise. I've beaten everyone here before... Except you, of course."

Satoshi grinned with excitement. "You'll be able to... I mean, maybe you'll be able to. Tracey showed me the whole schedule, and if I win two more matches, we'll face each other again already!"

I'd known that before he said so, of course. I'd planned for it myself. As if I'd leave it to Satoshi's current talents to meet me at the end of everything. No, I'd face him early on, to make sure I actually could meet him here. It would be kind of weird if it was the first round, but the fourth round was enough of a coincidence, and enough insurance to make sure all of this work hadn't been for nothing. "Yeah, so you're a possible competitor for me in the fourth round. I think I did notice that."

"Possible?!" Satoshi repeated.

"Yeah, possible. You don't think everyone here's going to be as much of a pushover as that girl you just faced, do you?"

"No, I know everyone here tries hard. No one's a pushover," Satoshi insisted. "But even if it's a challenge, I'll definitely make it. I don't know if I'm completely ready to face you, but me and my pokemon trained hard for this. I won't let them down."

I smiled. So, he'd gotten beyond completely avoiding me now. Well, it was a start. "Let me see just how easy it will be for you," I said. I pulled his folded schedule out of his hands. "Oh, the next guy's another easy win, lucky you... And in the third round..." I stopped reading, raising my eyebrows. This hadn't been what I'd planned. I know Tracey had begun to make changes with the established schedule upon the request of some participants and for various other reasons. The next person I'd be facing was even unknown to me. But that hadn't bothered me, I'd just let him move ahead with his edits, since it hadn't affected anything I'd cared about, after all. But this could be a problem.

"What? What is it?!" Satoshi demanded an explanation for my silence.

I set down the schedule and took a moment before speaking. "Um, yeah, your third opponent would be AJ, and he's not going to fall for any of your crap, you know."

"What do you mean by that?!" Satoshi demanded.

"It's just AJ's extremely talented and dedicated. He's not just any small town trainer. Everything he does is extremely calculated. He's a few steps ahead of you before you even begin, even for people who actually _do_ plan a strategy."

"I know," Satoshi said quickly. "Um, yeah, I know. He beat me before."

I raised an eyebrow, stifling a grin. I could imagine AJ's no-nonsense powerful style of battling going up against him. Of course Satoshi would have lost. "So, I guess I'll be going up against him again instead of you, then?"

"No! I hadn't been a trainer long when I fought him. I didn't have that many pokemon. But now I have Squirtle, I have Bulbasaur, and I have other pokemon that can definitely beat Sandshrew. I know a lot more now."

"So you've been studying your basic type alignments, huh? So you know a little more than you did at first, about your opponent and battling in general. And yeah, that sandshrew is his most common choice while battling," I thought more, recalling more details of my battle. AJ was way beyond any newbie's level. I'd had to think fast and move quickly to beat him. Satoshi having studied and trained a little more wouldn't mean much, especially since his opponent would have only progressed even farther. "He can probably still cream you easily."

"What makes you so sure? I could beat you, and you beat him!" Satoshi shouted.

I paused and thought for a moment. AJ wouldn't have let any of the nonsense I had let go happen in that battle. He would have had no hesitations about his sandshrew after Satoshi had made it painfully obvious that he was using his pikachu. Without teasing or conversation at all, he would have quickly and calmly taken out that pikachu, showing mercy only when pikachu was too disabled to battle, claiming his victory without a second thought. "AJ's not me," I said simply. Actually, I often held a similar attitude to AJ's while battling, and could even get more ruthless than him if the situation called for it. Not that I wanted to get into explaining any of that. "He's somewhat similar to me, though. He also held the title of 'undefeated' for a while."

"Lost it, though," Satoshi muttered.

"Yeah, but he had it in the first place for a reason," I said. "And he's not going to play around with you like I did. He'll knock you out of the running pretty quickly. Everything about him is far above your level."

"There's still a chance," Satoshi said. "I'm not going to give up. I can win."

"Well, you'd be a real wimp to just give up, so of course you can't do that. And yeah, there's always a chance, however small," I said. Satoshi seemed a bit discouraged, and I saw his attention was starting to falter as he began to look all around the grounded. "Satoshi, listen. To increase that chance, maybe you can just rethink how you're doing things," I suggested.

"Rethink what?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe you do have a good plan for beating AJ. Maybe it could just use a little fine tuning. Maybe it could be a group project. It's still your battle, of course. But why don't you work with someone to get a different perspective on things, like, um, a coach. Think you'd be more prepared then?"

"A coach? Like Brock?" Satoshi looked around for his friend, but Brock had wandered off much earlier. "Yeah, Brock's already like my coach."

"He has been since AJ beat you, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, since before then. For a really long time."

"And despite his help, you still lost. Maybe you could try something different this time around? Maybe try working with someone else?"

"Maybe," Satoshi said. He still looked bored. "But who else would want to help me?" he asked.

Wow. He really didn't get what I was getting at. I hoped he wouldn't outright reject me as he'd done before. "Me," I said.

"You?" Satoshi seemed momentarily surprised at the suggestion, and then appeared thoughtful. "But... I'm supposed to battle you."

"No, this time you're supposed to battle AJ. You'll only get to face me if you beat him. But until then... In the _day_ before then... Why don't you let me help you?"

"Huh. A day. And then I'd fight AJ. Um, yeah. Okay," Satoshi said. I could tell by his tone that he still had some reservations, but I was happy he'd accepted just the same.

At that moment, Brock came and plopped down a tray on the table. "Come on, if we take only three minutes to eat, then we can definitely make it to... Oh, hello, Shigeru," he said.

"Hey Brock, Gary's going coach me for now, okay? Before we battle, I mean."

"Really? Good idea there. You really should get input from as many experts as you can. Nice of you, Gar- Shigeru. And since you'll be helping him out, I'll be free to get input from other experts... Like Erika..." Brock had a disconnected, dreamy expression as he stared beyond us. "I'll just go and get started with that now. Later!"

Brock darted off and I stared after him, bewildered. And I'd thought the scene in Satoshi's kitchen had been weird. The former Boulder City gym leader, who I'd only seen as a serious person, certainly had some eccentric sides to him. I wondered how many other different faces he had, and how many other people that I'd met had such different sides in different settings.

"Hey, you want to eat? I think Brock left his dinner here," Satoshi said.

I turned back to him. Well, the trainer in front of me didn't really have any other sides, he was as blunt and clueless as ever. I liked that about him. I was glad to know where I stood with him, as a rival, not a friend, even if I wanted to change that. And it seemed like he was actually starting to change his mind now. Maybe now things would start to be different.

"What is it, Gary? Are you going to eat this or not?"

"I'll pass," I said. "I have to check on some things. Why don't you meet me in front of Grandpa's ranch after your next battle?"

"Yeah! My next match... I've gotta hurry." Satoshi was now completely distracted. I wondered if he'd actually forgotten.

"So then, you'll meet me there?" I asked.

"Yeah, uh huh, right after my next match." Satoshi was now quickly stuffing his food down. "I'm gonna win this one... I'm pretty sure I'm gonna win! So don't worry Gary, I'll meet you after that!"

I waved and walked away. I got the feeling that he was talking himself into his upcoming victory, but I was already positive of it. If only Tracey hadn't changed things around, then there would have been three definite victories for him. Oh well, this had just opened the doors to a different opportunity for me. Maybe it wouldn't even matter if we got to face each other. The battle itself wasn't at all important to me, anyway.

But Satoshi stressing over his next round reminded me that it was time to start thinking of my own next match, one that would start in only an hour. I opened up the schedule again, looking at the unfamiliar name. Who could this person be? I had a set list of those who were invited, and no one else should have been there. It could have been someone sent in another's place, maybe someone uninvited with a grudge against me who'd changed their names for fear of blacklisting. Either way, I wasn't too worried. I put the schedule back into my pocket and went to check on how things were going with Tracey.


	7. I, Chapter 6: Alias

**Innocent Aims**

Part I: Capture and Release

_Chapter 6: Alias_

* * *

A crowd of people surrounded him, but I easily pushed through, since most of them knew who I was, anyway. At the makeshift counter, I placed a fresh stack of updated schedules in front of Tracey, and then helped him hand them out. I saw him breath a slight sigh of relief. Now that he was more relaxed, I decided that now was the time to confront him.

"Hey, Tracey," I said. He went from slightly relaxed to alert yet again. "What happened to my second round?" I asked.

Tracey picked up a schedule, as he'd been doing since I came back and likely hours before that, opened it up, and highlighted my name with precision. "It's by the pond, starting very soon, actually. Do you need a map?"

"Tracey... It's me," I said blankly. "I think I know my way around here."

"Oh. Right," Tracey said. His looked away with embarrassment.

"I mean, what happened with my opponent. Who is this? Why did you change it?"

"I changed it?" Tracey said. "I mean, I don't remember changing it, but I very well may have. I'll check to see what happened right away," he said.

I shook my head. "Yeah, never mind that. I have to get going anyway. I'm late. See you." I casually waved to Tracey as I turned my back.

"Sorry, Gary! I didn't mean to make you late when I asked for your help," Tracey said.

He was just the kind of person to apologize for doing my work for me, I thought with a smirk. I waved my hand again to let him no it was no real trouble and then began to make my way across the crowded grounds. Eventually the crowd thinned, and disappeared until I was alone in the woods, at least until I got to the pond.

In front of the water, a female figure stood, her back to me. She wore a long, elegant dress and had her hair down. She had her arms folded in front of her, and almost seemed to tap her foot. She didn't make a sound, and with that plus the dim forest light, she almost seemed kind of ghostly. Well, if that was how she wanted to do it, I decided to play along. I walked up to the other side of the small pond, also making not a sound other than the leaves rustling under my feet. I just stood there in silence for a moment, giving her a chance to speak first.

And she did, without even turning around. "So, you finally decided to show up? You should never keep a lady waiting."

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. "Miss?" I said. As she turned around, I was surprised, but only because I saw exactly who I expected to see, the one who I was supposed to face in the first place. It was really strange that she was in this getup, though. "Oh, so it's just you," I said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"There's an error in the schedule. I wasn't sure if things got changed around. Who's this 'Kasumi', anyway?"

"It's me, of course! And you should know. It's my stage name and you've seen me on stage, right? I'm always introduced as the lovely Kasumi."

"Think so. I can't be bothered to remember any of that. But that still doesn't explain why this name shows up here."

"My fans will recognize me by my stage name, so I had Tracey change it. He's a friend of mine and was happy to help."

"Oh? So that's what happened. But man, isn't that kind of pretentious," I commented.

"Pretentious? Come on, Shigeru, you shouldn't be the one saying anything about that. This whole set up is pretty pretentious on your part. This is _not_ what you should be doing right now."

I stopped a moment, surprised. This was all true, but she's the only one to even said a word of that. Other people thanked me for putting it together, and even my grandfather hadn't so much as implied it, as far as I'd recalled. This should not have been the next step for someone like me in my trainer journey. In fact, it was kind of silly. "Yeah, you're right," I said.

And this was how our arguments would always end. She'd make a good point, I'd agree, and suddenly she'd have nothing else to say. I smiled with a nostalgic recollection of my stops at the Cerulean City gym. Maybe I had made some friends on my pokemon journey after all, I considered. The few times I'd stopped there, the four sisters had always been happy to greet me, even this one, for the most part.

"It's good to see you again, Misty," I said. Then I turned away and let my smile drop. Yeah, they were all friendly to me alright, but to think we were friends would be pretty presumptuous.

Misty's demeanor was much calmer now, and she seemed to be a better match to that elegant dress now. "And you too, Shigeru. I've been looking forward to battling with you. But first I need to know. Why?"

I blinked silently, waiting for her to continue her question. When she didn't, I replied, "Why what?"

"Why are you even doing something like this? Don't tell me you're not ready to lose in the pokemon league to our regions top trainers. I've been looking forward to seeing who you lose against. You have to lose sometime, you know."

"Well, I already have. Twice, actually. I'm no longer undefeated," I said.

Misty's expression changed to surprised. "To who?" Before I could respond, she continued questioning. "Well, so this is a chance to regain your pride or something?"

"No, nothing like that. If I felt I had something to regain, I'd just battle those two again. They're amateurs, I've won against far more talented trainers. Like yourself, for example."

Misty smiled at that compliment. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Even if you didn't save that defeat for me, I'll show you just how lucky you were to win against me before in a moment. First, I'm still going to make you answer my question. No dancing around it."

"Okay," I said hesitantly.

Misty began to speak right away. "What's this all for? I know you want something out of it. So what is it? You say it's not glory, so? Revenge? Information gathering? Practice with people you're pretty sure you can win against?"

"Love," I said. Even while saying it, I became surprised. I hadn't even really completely admitted it to myself, and here I was, telling her. It was just natural to tell her the truth, but the truth seemed absurd, and left me feeling kind of foolish for mentioning it at all. I looked to the ground sheepishly.

"Well," Misty began. I could tell she was trying not to let her amusement show too much. "Can't say that people haven't done crazier things for that. Who's the lucky guy?"

I looked up in surprise, but quickly regained my composure. "How did you even know that?" I asked.

"Just a good guesser. Anyway, I won't really make you answer _that_ question. It's enough that I made you admit to being as much of a sap as me," Misty said. She then held up a pokeball. "Enough with the small talk. Let's just get started with our battle already."

I had no problem agreeing to that, and I quickly chose my first pokemon. We both threw the pokeballs out at the same time.

"Go, Starmie!" Misty shouted.

"Electivire!" I said.

"Starmie, harden! We won't lose on type advantage alone," Misty said.

Maybe Misty was used to beating other trainers who thought they had an easy win with an electric type pokemon, but I was pretty sure I could win here. "Thunderbolt," I ordered. My electivire's attack hit dead on. To Misty's starmie's credit, it didn't falter. It flew up in as perfect as stance as always. But it couldn't hide at least one sign of weakness. The blinking gem let everyone know that its power was low.

"Starmie, do your rapid spin attack!" Misty ordered.

It was a somewhat powerful normal type attack, and this is where she likely caught her amateur opponents off guard. But I was confident in my electivire's ability to defend. Her starmie hit at a great speed, causing some damage, but it was soon knocked aside by my electivire, who had a pretty quick reaction time.

"Thunderbolt," I said again.

My electivire let lose another large bolt of electricity, and had another direct hit. Starmie was likely knocked out then, and fell into the water.

"Starmie!" Misty cried. She reached for her pokeball and quickly returned the other pokemon. Her eyes narrowed with determination, and she didn't hesitate before sending out the next pokemon. "Go on Dewgong, do your best to win this one!"

Do your best. It seemed optimistic on the surface, but ultimately implied that its best wasn't good enough to win. I could see Misty was going for close physical attack, so I got ready to counter.

"Try your headbutt attack!" Misty shouted.

Sure enough, I'd been right. "Thunder punch," I said immediately.

My electivire's punch hit Misty's dewgong first, but not soon enough to stop the momentum of the headbutt attack. The two pokemon both scattered apart from their impacts.

"Dewgong, aurora beam! I know you can do it!"

"Electivire, thunderbolt," I ordered.

My electivire dodged the attack, and the dewgong also would have got away clear, if not for the wet landscape. As the other pokemon retreated backward it hit the water, the attack followed it, allowing for the effect of the devastating electricity. An avoidable mistake, but at least the time to the dewgong's eventual loss had been lessened.

As the nearly, or perhaps completely unconscious dewgong floated to the surface, Misty was forced to return it.

"One more chance," I said to Misty. Like all of the other matches in this tournament, this one was three on three.

"I know," Misty said. "And I won't let their efforts go to waste. It's your turn, Goldeen!"

Misty gracefully let go of her last pokeball, and the fish pokemon now jumped above the water. As it dove beneath the surface, I could see a few things wrong with this strategy. Might as well get this over with. "Thunderbolt," I said.

"Goldeen, your horn attack!" Misty said.

The timing was perfect. Her goldeen's horn came stabbed my electivire at the most vulnerable moment of its stance for its attack, right at a critical area that both stopped it and, while it didn't quite knock it out, left it possibly unable to continue to attack. Rather than take the chance that it might be disabled, I took out my pokeball. "Nice job, Electivire," I said, and then returned it. "That was a stupid mistake of mine. I should have seen that move coming," I said. What other non-water based attack could it have effectively used, anyway?

"It's not like you can predict _everything _a trainer's going to do. That's part of the challenge," Misty said.

"Just almost everything," I said. "At least it wasn't like some of the stupid mistakes you've made here. I chose this battlefield to help you out, but you really should know when to stay away from that water, or else it'll be a real disadvantage."

"Stop stalling and just send out your next pokemon," Misty snapped.

I promptly threw out my next pokeball at her request, purposefully not calling out which one it was.

Misty didn't noticed. "Goldeen, horn attack, right now!" she said before my pokemon was even out of the pokeball.

"Blastoise, rapid spin!" I said. I used the attack she'd tried on me earlier, only this time of course on a larger scale. As my blastoise began to spin rapidly, water spun all around, but it was too late for Misty's goldeen to stop its attack. Hitting my spinning blastoise right on its hard shell, her goldeen sailed in an unexpected direction, hitting various foliage.

"Goldeen!" Misty ran off to find her pokemon. It lay on the forest floor, obviously disabled. Misty picked up the fish in her arms and spoke to it gently. "I'm sorry, Goldeen, I'll get you fixed up right away. We'll just try better next time, okay?"

"Goldeen," the pokemon responded. With that, Misty returned it to her pokeball.

Misty was of the "pokemon are friends" mindset, so I'd just given her a moment rather than intruded on the unprofessional scene. But now that she was done with that, I walked over to her. "Nice battle, Misty," I said and held out my hand.

Misty soon shook it. "And as always, you're the winner," she said.

I shrugged. "Might not have been if you'd tried something different. There's one glaring weakness stretching across all of your strategy. It makes defeating you easy, and not just for me."

Misty grinned at this critique proudly. "I'll be a water pokemon trainer until the day I die. Besides, I'm able to get over any 'weaknesses'."

I nodded. "You've improved your overall technique, but you still have to learn how to modify it for tougher opponents."

"I can't believe I have to listen to this critique from you when I've already beaten so many tough opponents," Misty vented. Then she just sighed. "I guess beating you was really too good to be true. The next battle was going to be a public one, too. I could have been surrounded by adoring fans, with more curious spectators for having broken your undefeated streak. I could have made it big... Well, bigger than I am already."

"I already-"

"I know, it was just a daydream of mine, okay? Pretend you didn't even hear it," Misty said. She began to walk away from the pond area, and I followed.

"Didn't think you really liked performing, anyway, so what's with the outfit?" Misty's normal attire was very tomboyish, not at all like this dress. "And the... Um, 'stage name'..."

"I've always used a stage name, and it's just what fans know me as now. My sisters chose it. If I had it to do again, I'd just be Misty, but what can I do now? And I don't really like those performances and plays that much. I'd rather get attention for other things, like my pokemon training. But who says I can't get attention for both? I'm a multi-talented star. Unlike my older sisters, I won't lose the spotlight when I'm too old to be an idol. And my pokemon get attention from my sisters' productions too, you know. And they like it. So I'd keep doing it for them if no nothing else." Misty continued rambling as we walked into town, and I somewhat listened. I can't say it wasn't boring, but at the same time, having someone who was willing to talk to me on a personal level was nice. I stayed by her side as we walked back into the park.

As we walked in, Satoshi came running over to us, a happy expression on his face. "Hey, Gary! I won! I'm in the third round."

"Of course you are, I didn't expect you to have any trouble," I said.

Satoshi beamed. "So now-"

"So it's you!" Misty interjected. "I'm almost surprised to see you here, though I heard lots of talented trainers were invited."

"What, who?" Apparently they knew each other, but like with me, Satoshi hadn't recognized her right away. "Misty?" he realized. "Hey, I'm talented!" he insisted.

"And you'd better stay that way, wearing my Cascade Badge around and all," Misty warned. Her expression grew softer as she looked toward Satoshi's shoulder. "Pikachu, come here!" Misty held out her arms.

"Pikachupi!" Satoshi's Pikachu jumped into Misty's arms.

Misty giggled a little. "Good, it looks like you've been taken care of," Misty said. "I missed you, Pikachu!"

"Of course I take care of it... Pikachu's my best friend," Satoshi said.

"I know, I'm just teasing you, of course," Misty said with a smile.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, smiling along with Misty.

"I actually miss hanging around with you and Brock sometimes... But I really couldn't do that forever," Misty said.

"Yeah...." Satoshi said, frowning, but then he smiled back at Misty. "It's good you went back home, anyway! You couldn't wear that running around with us. Hey, I can't even recognize you in it. Something that pretty's not for you!"

"Are you trying to say I'm not pretty?" Misty said.

The two continued their banter, and I stood by silently. I couldn't help but feel jealous. I was jealous of Satoshi, who seemed to become good friends with Misty just even more easily as I had. I was jealous of Misty for being yet another person that Satoshi could battle and then become close with, while he didn't seem to want to see me at all for years. I kind of faded into the background as they went on and on.

"Anyway, Gary's going to help me get ready for round three! Brock's in round three, too," Satoshi eventually said.

"Well, thanks to just battling Shigeru, I'm _not_ in round three."

"So it's kind of like I beat you again, since I'm getting farther than you here, too!" Satoshi said.

"Win against Shigeru, then start bragging," Misty said sulkily.

"I did," Satoshi said.

"You did what?" Misty asked.

"I beat Gary."

"Gary, meaning him?" Misty pointed at me.

"Yeah."

Misty's face was shocked, and then she glared at me, not saying the question she was likely thing, which was the same as before -- why? Then she sighed. "At least his fluke of a win in Cerulean Gym doesn't reflect _as_ badly on me now," Misty said. "That kid has a tendency to surprise a lot of people," she said directly at me. "I know he seems like a flake, but he treats his pokemon well, and has an entire ocean of luck on his side."

I nodded. Satoshi pushed between the two of us. "I'm right here, you know," he said. "Come on Gary, we don't have a lot of time before tomorrow. I want to train!"

"Sure," I said, and allowed Satoshi to put me away.

"I'm still sticking around for now, maybe I'll see you later," Misty said. I nodded to her as Satoshi and I began to walk away. "Have fun, boys! And you too Pikachu, you little sweetie pie!" Misty said.

"Pikachupi!" Satoshi's pikachu and Misty waved at each other.

Satoshi eventually stopped pushing me when we were alone, and then just walked alongside me. I looked over at him, and saw a determined yet excited look on his face. "I know you're going to help me now," he began. "But that doesn't mean I can't beat you later on my own, right?"

I stopped myself before saying how it wasn't very likely, and I just gave a placid smile in response.

That was more than enough for Satoshi, though. "Okay!" he shouted vigorously. "Let's train!"


End file.
